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Care for the elderly, care by the elderly: The role of elderly women in a changing Tswana society

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Abstract

With increasing urbanization and migration in Botswana and an increasing number of children born to unwed mothers, the grandmother (especially maternal) has become a key figure in many households. She is often the main care provider for children of absent daughters: a phenomenon observed elsewhere in Africa. But what happens when the grandmother herself is in need of care? There are indications that the elderly, especially old women, may have less access to modern health care facilities than the rest of the population. This article focuses on the family and resources available for care of the elderly, and presents preliminary results from an ongoing multidisciplinary project.

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Ingstad, B., Bruun, F., Sandberg, E. et al. Care for the elderly, care by the elderly: The role of elderly women in a changing Tswana society. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 7, 379–398 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01848700

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